


A Third Chance

by flash_the_geist



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: AU, Angst, Anxiety, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Miscommunication, Overdosing, Post-Cave, Self-Harm, Suicide, poor communication was the real villain all along, this is nothing like my usual fare, wow what a set of tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-12 19:19:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18016838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flash_the_geist/pseuds/flash_the_geist
Summary: It's been weeks since the cave and Lewis still isn't ready to talk, but when Vivi points out the effect this is having on Arthur he knows he can't put it off any longer.Surely it won't be too hard to talk it out and fix things. Right? Then everything can go back to normal.(Please mind the tags!)





	1. Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is nothing at all like my usual stuff, eesh. I have no idea where this came from... I suspect my muse has gone on an exchange program and left me with someone else's angst!muse.  
>   
>  **Please check the tags!**

"You _have_ to talk to him," Vivi insists, eyes snapping. "It's been _weeks_ , Lew. He thinks you'll never forgive him! Not that any of this is his fault-"

" **I know, Vivi,** " he sighs. " **I just... I'm not ready.** "

"Will you ever be?" She huffs out a breath in exasperation, rocking back on her heels and giving him a serious look. "You don't understand, Lew. After you disappeared - I was off in painkiller lala land for _ages_ , he spent so much time on his own researching and looking for you-"

" **I know...** "

"-he's been dead on his feet for _months_ now, I thought when you got back he'd get _better-_ "

Lewis feels a pang of guilt. " **I know-** "

"-you've barely _looked_ at him since you got back, except to glare him away. He's _fading_ , Lew. You... _we _can't go on like this-"__

" ** _Alright,_ alright! I'll talk to him.**"

\-----

Tucking the van keys into her pocket, Vivi adjusts her scarf and looks them both over. "I should be back tomorrow, it's just a stock run next town over."

Arthur doesn't answer, pretending to be occupied saying goodbye to Mystery, hands buried in his snowy fur.

Vivi gives Lewis a pointed stare, and he sighs internally. He knows this is the perfect opportunity to talk to Arthur. With Vivi and the van gone, there's no excuse for them to keep avoiding each other. They've managed it for over a month... until now, and Lewis can't help but wonder if she's somehow orchestrated this.

Vivi bids them both farewell, standing on her tiptoes to kiss Arthur's forehead before beckoning Lewis down and holding him close for a long moment. "Fix this," she whispers in his ear, giving him one last _look_ , and then she's gone, swinging out the door and into the van, Mystery one step behind.

He stands at the window, watching it rumble down the road, then listening until even the rattle of the suspension fades. He's delaying, he knows it. Vivi's right, he's been delaying for _weeks_ , avoiding Arthur as much as physically possible while still living in the same house. He's probably been warning him off unconsciously since they got back, he realises with a vague sense of surprise. He'd given Arthur a scare, then they'd helped Vivi and Mystery chase off that Shiromori creature, and then they hadn't really talked, just gone home together like nothing had happened.

Except... something _had_ happened, and it turned out he was completely wrong about all of it. Arthur was innocent.

He hasn't the foggiest idea of what to say to him. Where would he even begin?

...He's put it off long enough.

Decision made, he turns from the window and tracks Arthur down, quickly finding him in the kitchen. He's hunched over the bench, spooning sugar into a mug, the kettle whistling softly next to him.

" **Arthur** ," he says.

Arthur drops the cup.

It falls the short distance to the bench, granules of coffee and sugar spilling over the mica as it rolls. Lewis grabs it before it falls to the floor, setting it upright before turning to look at him.

The sight gives him pause. He doesn't think he's gotten this close since... since the night he found them again. Has he really been so distant? He runs his eyes over the shorter man, Vivi's description echoing in his ears. _Fading_.

He does look faded, his hair clean but limp against his head. Lewis hasn't seen him with his usual styled look in weeks, he realises with a start. He's hunched over, face angled away as he stares warily. The light turns the shadows under his eyes into deep pits, and Lewis steps forward to look closer.

Arthur squeaks, backing up against the cabinets. " _Lewis_ , I..."

He trails off as Lewis reaches over and grips his shoulder, meaning to reassure him, but he pauses once again at what he finds, skimming his hand down Arthur's chest. He's thin, far thinner than he remembers, his ribs sticking out unhealthily. Arthur's eyes go wide and he sees the lines of tension at the corners, tight with pain and... grief. 

This is a man who's been fighting his demons for months.

This is a man who's been fighting his demons and _losing_.

" **Arthur,** " he says again, and his friend _trembles_ , darting a round-eyed glance at him. Is he really so terrifying? " **We need to ....talk.** "

" _Oh,_ " Arthur breathes, hands coming up to clutch the hem of his shirt. "T-today, then...? I... I need some time to... prepare?"

...Prepare? That's a flimsy excuse. He's definitely put this off too long. He can't let them back out of this now, if he's ever going to fix things between them. " **We need to talk now.** "

"Please, Lewis... _please_. I just need to... finish some things. I just need an hour. _Half_ an hour," Arthur begs.

He shouldn't. The longer they wait, the harder it gets... and now he's finally seen him properly, seen what Vivi saw _weeks_ ago, he wants this over and done with as soon as possible. He wants to tell Arthur so many things, to hear him tell his story in full, to finally laugh it off and put it all behind them. Why has he been wasting so much time? He's got a second chance to tell him... _everything_.

...but Arthur's giving him such a pleading look, eyes wet, that he caves. He grips his shoulder reassuringly. " **Alright. Half an hour. I'll be waiting for you here.** "

Arthur sags in relief, scurrying away as fast as his legs can carry him, and Lewis tries to ignore the vague feeling that he's made a very, very big mistake.

\-----

Exactly twenty-eight minutes later Arthur returns to the kitchen. Something about him looks... off, and it takes Lewis a minute to notice that he's not wearing his vest.

"Okay," he says. "Okay. I'm... I'm ready."

He doesn't look ready. He looks somehow _worse_ than he did half an hour ago, skin pale, eyes glassy, and swaying slightly. Lewis hovers over to him, concerned, and when he lays a hand on Arthur's arm he feels him _flinch_.

" **Arthur?** "

Arthur stays silent, eyes shut tight, and Lewis runs his hand up his arm, concern growing as he feels Arthur _shaking_. " **What's wrong, Arthur?** "

"Are... are you going to burn me?" he asks, voice small.

" **What?** "

"I mean... it's probably not fair to ask," Arthur mumbles, tenser than a coiled spring.

Confused, Lewis tips his head. " **I'm... not going to burn you. Why would you think that?** "

" _Oh,_ " Arthur says, "um. What... what are you going to do?"

Something's not right, here. " **I want to ...talk. And then I want to _fix_ things.**"

Arthur chokes back a _sob_ , pressing a hand over his mouth, and Lewis is _definitely_ alarmed now. "F-fix things...? You... you don't have to worry about any of that. I fixed it already."

" **Arthur,** " he says slowly, leaning in to study his friend, " **what are you talking about?** "

Arthur finally looks at him, eyes filled with tears, his expression so _earnest_. "I left everything to Vivi. Except... the tools and Galahad, Uncle Lance has those, and the funds-" he sobs again before catching himself, swallowing the next one down and wiping at his eyes, "s-sorry... the funds are all set up for your memorial. They should last ten years."

" **You... what?!** "

"It's all done. I hope that's... okay." Arthur bites his lip. "So you can just... go ahead and-" his voice cracks, " _-do it_."

Lewis stares, slowly pulling his hand back. " **Do what?** " He asks eventually.

"You can... you can kill me."

That sense of creeping unease sweeps back with a vengeance, filling him with dread. " **Arthur,** " he says blankly, " **no- stop, I'm not going to... _kill you,_ what-**"

Arthur's eyes lose focus, fixing on a point somewhere over his shoulder. "I know the cliff didn't work, and if you're not going to burn me... will you... will you tell me how?"

Lewis leaps forward, gripping his shoulders tightly as he searches his face. " **I'm not going to kill you. _Listen_ to me. I'm not!**"

Arthur _flinches_ again, his whole body shuddering, but he doesn't back away. "Oh. Okay."

Something's terribly, terribly _wrong_. Lewis looks him over frantically. His eyes are glassy, skin clammy to the touch, and he sways in Lewis' grip. " **Arthur. What have you done?** " he exclaims.

"I just... just took something to stay calm. I couldn't... let myself run away. Not again," Arthur tells him, tone conversational, like he's commenting on the weather and not his careful preparations for what he's convinced is his _murder_. "And... they won't know it was you. If they check. I took enough." He wipes at his eyes again, giving him a wan smile. "Vivi won't know."

It's suddenly, _horrifically_ apparent what he means. " **No...** "

Arthur swallows roughly. "I ...probably won't feel it as much. When you... When you... I hope that's okay."

Lewis' heart breaks and he _howls_ , shaking his head in denial, the realisations coming far too late - this is what's been running through Arthur's mind?! How did they get here? Why does Arthur think he wants to _kill him_? He'd _never_ hurt him-

-but he had, hadn't he? He'd picked him up by the scruff of his shirt and thrown him straight over a cliff, straight to what he well knows would have been a slow, painful death, and he'd never thought to apologise, explain himself, _talk to him_ -

" **No. No. No, Artie, _no,_ I didn't - I'm not-**"

Arthur's voice is flat, like there's nothing left in him to care. "You'd... better do it soon. Think I'm... falling asleep. I didn't... think you'd take so long..."

Lewis catches him as he slumps over.

He shakes him urgently, calls his name again and again, _begs_ him to respond, but Arthur doesn't wake.

He doesn't wake when Lewis starts sobbing, clutching at him desperately, and he doesn't wake when Lance bursts in, demanding to know why he has a very final-sounding goodbye message from his nephew, and he doesn't wake when the ambulance arrives and takes him away.

In the end, Lewis didn't get to fix anything.

\-----

Time moves strangely for ghosts. Lewis isn't sure how long he's been sitting on the floor, slumped in the same position he'd caught Arthur... hours ago? Days ago?

He's not sure.

He hovers slowly, finally moving from his spot, wandering about in a daze. He does two slow loops of the house, drifting aimlessly, mind fogged with unanswerable questions and a deep, relentless guilt.

This is all his fault.

 _Why did he wait so long?_ He should have talked to Arthur the night he came back. Stupid, to think things would go back to normal over time. _Nothing_ about this has been normal.

The look on Arthur's _face_ -

How could he think Lewis would-??

-the cliff.

He'd looked so _resigned_ -

Lewis groans, burying his face in his hands, dropping down onto the nearest surface. It gives with a strange crackling noise, and he lifts his head, looking down absently.

He's in Arthur's room, sitting on his bed.

It's immaculate. No papers on the tables, no clothes strewn over the floor, the bedsheets folded crisply. Lewis stands, inspecting the contents of the room, and finds the source of the crackle. It's an envelope.

'To Vivi', the front says in Arthur's looping handwriting, and he slowly slides out the note with a sense of foreboding.

 _Dear Vivi,_  
  
_I know by the time you find this I'll be gone._  
_Please don't be sad. I've been thinking about this for a long time and_

There's a faint tearing noise and Lewis unclenches his fingers from around the paper. This is... this is...

 _Dear Vivi,_  
  
_I know by the time you find this I'll be gone._  
_Please don't be sad. I've been thinking about this for a long time and now that you've got Lewis back, I know you'll get on alright without me._  
_I know you think none of this was my fault but you're wrong. I can't live with this guilt anymore._  
_Please tell Lewis I love him very much and I hope he can forgive me one day._  
_And... I love you too._  
_I'm sorry._  
  
_-Arthur K._

The note drops from his fingers, fluttering down onto the bed. He stares into space for a long moment, then snatches up the envelope and _yanks_ it open.

The rest of the papers burst out, cascading over the quilt, and he digs through them wildly. Bank account details, patents, schematics, the pin code to his workshop safe, paid invoices for Lewis' _memorial_ , the van registration signed over to Vivi's name-

 _"I need some time to prepare,"_ Arthur had said. This isn't half an hour of preparation. Arranging this would have taken _weeks_.

He'd _had_ weeks.

" **Oh _god, no_** ," he sobs. He'd had _weeks_ and he'd never told him-

He could be dying, he could be dead _right now_ , and he'd _never told him_ -

Lewis rears back, papers going flying as he bolts straight through the wall, _flying_ down the streets in a panicked blur of black and purple.

He has to get to the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ........welp my heart's broken, how's yours?


	2. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better run fast, Lewis...

When Lewis arrives at the hospital the sun has long since set. He's grateful for the cover of night - no one has seen him during his mad dash through town.

He's tracked that dim sense of recognition to its source, glowing like a fading beacon at the edge of his senses. Arthur is somewhere close, but the feeling of nearness is foggy now, fading in and out slowly. He tries not to assume the worst - he's never tracked anyone like this before. It could just be his inability to use his new senses properly... but a little voice in the back of his mind whispers _maybe it's because he's dying_ and the thought propels him into the hospital. Not bothering with the doors, he phases right through the wall, launching himself at the front desk in his desperation.

" **Where is Arthur Kingsmen?** " he demands.

The man at the desk glances up, turns white as a sheet, and then startles back so fast that he topples over his chair. It hits the ground with a loud bang and everyone looks up.

In an instant the hospital is in chaos. People start screaming - most of them flee the room, shoving at each other in their hurry.

It's a struggle to hold his form at the best of times; now, with his emotions in turmoil, he has no hope of it at all. Whatever. He hasn't got _time_ for this. He turns back to the man, still lying on the floor behind the desk, staring up at him with terrified eyes.

" ** _Where is Arthur Kingsmen?!_** " he asks again.

"I... I... _oh my god_ ," the man responds, and cowers under the desk.

He has to find Arthur _now_ \- he considers reaching right over and shaking the man until he answers, but as he leans down something catches his eye - a list? He grabs the clipboard, combing through the papers - there.

Throwing the list back on the desk, he takes off, following the signs. He takes two wrong turns, cursing himself and sending several staff members fleeing in a panic, but finally, _finally,_ he finds Arthur.

He pauses in the doorway, and the urgency that's been driving him since he read that _note_ curdles into trepidation. What if... what if he's...?

Lewis creeps forward, inching across the room until he's standing at Arthur's bedside. He watches, heart pounding, until he hears the soft, rasping sound of a shallow breath. Slowly, he reaches out a hand and places it on Arthur's chest.

The relief is so intense that he sags, almost dropping to his knees. He catches himself in a sob, wishing he could close his eyes and block out the sight of Arthur so... _lifeless_ \- but he can't.

Arthur looks so... _lonely_ , arms clasped tight around himself as though seeking comfort, his face tucked down against his shoulder. Lewis slides his hand from Arthur's chest to his cheek, running his thumb along a too-sharp cheekbone.

Arthur stirs slightly, giving a bleary hum. How many times has Lewis caught him asleep over his workbench, how many times has he nudged him awake to that hear that same inquisitive whirr and see Arthur's trusting smile? His heart aches at the memory.

Arthur's not smiling now, his face set in a deep frown even as he sleeps, curled up in his protective ball. Oh god, he's missed so many _signs_. He looks haggard, hollow-eyed and hollow-cheeked, the dim lights of the hospital washing him almost into monochrome.

Before Lewis is even aware he's even made the decision he's settling in beside him, drawing Arthur into his arms, trying to suffuse those cold limbs with his unnatural warmth. It breaks something in him to feel how light he is, and then Arthur shifts in his sleep, curling closer to the source of warmth and relaxing against Lewis' chest, and Lewis nearly cracks apart right then and there. How long has it been since Arthur touched him? Since the day he-?

He cuts that thought off immediately, but another quickly rises to take its place - does Arthur think Lewis has been avoiding him because of _that?_ Oh _god,_ no wonder he thinks Lewis won't forgive him. Not, as Vivi rightfully pointed out, that there's anything to forgive...

...Does _Arthur_ realise there's nothing to forgive?

He groans miserably, wrapping himself tighter around the sleeping man as the past weeks spin through his mind - his constant silence, the staring, the avoidance. He'd been using them as a shield while he wallowed in self-pity, but now- now he sees himself through Arthur's eyes, and it's a _hideous_ sight. He's become Arthur's own personal grim reaper, lurking in the shadows of his own home, stalking him silently and, for all Arthur knows, biding his time for a second attempt.

He looks down at his friend, aching with guilt, and then Arthur's eyes open and he stares up at him, one hand flying up to grip his sleeve.

"Lewis?" Arthur mouths in shock, and for an instant Lewis is back on the edge of a cliff, holding his friend suspended over a mass of vicious spikes. He almost _drops_ Arthur as the memory hits him, and his grip tightens reflexively.

Arthur's eyes go wide and horrified, and Lewis can feel every muscle in him tense. "You-?" he breathes, then he clutches his stomach with a grimace, his gaze darting around the room before returning to him. "I thought-"

" **Arthur-** "

"-what am I doing here?" Again, he stares around the room, taking in the machines and the rickety hospital furniture with a pinched expression. He draws in on himself, pulling away, but Lewis refuses to let him go, frantically tugging him back and clasping him closer.

" **What were you _thinking_?! You... you could have _died_!**"

"Sorry," Arthur mumbles, voice rough, staring down at his lap. "I... guess I didn't measure right."

" **You- _No,_ Arthur, no, I don't... I don't want you to do that _ever again_. Please. _Please._** "

Arthur blinks slowly, chewing at his lip for a few moments before nodding. "O-oh. Okay. I- didn't realise it made a difference? Sorry. ...How should I-"

" **Arthur, _I'm not going to kill you._ I _never_ wanted to kill you. The cliff...**" How the hell can he explain himself? " **I thought...** "

Arthur finally looks at him, face tight, searching his eyes for something. He apparently finds what he's looking for, because he sighs and leans away from him, studying the wall. "It's okay, Lewis." Arthur gives him a cautious pat, careful to use his right hand. "It's alright. I understand. I understand why you have to." He shivers slightly, shoulders tense.

What will it take to convince him?! " **I _don't_ \- why do you think...? Arthur, I'm _not going to_ -**"

"Yes you _are_ ," Arthur says earnestly, "I _understand_. You need to get your revenge so you can... go back to normal."

Lewis' brain come to a crashing halt and his heart freezes on his chest. _Go back to normal._

The last pieces of the puzzle click into place.

Arthur _doesn't want to die_ , he thinks this is the only way to _fix Lewis._ To 'fix' him because he hasn't been acting _normal_.

The sudden understanding hits him and it hurts like a spike through the heart. He's experienced the feeling before, he reflects dully, and he's pretty sure it didn't hurt this much the last time. Arthur's been waiting for this for _weeks_ \- maybe even since the day he came back. He'd watched Lewis' behaviour, combined that with his own guilt, come to the incredibly wrong conclusion that he was entirely at fault, and worked out a solution.

...And then he'd accepted it, and made preparations for it, and Lewis knows, he _knows_ with heart-wrenching certainty, that Arthur would have stood there in his own kitchen and let Lewis burn him to death.

Because it would _'fix' him._ He'd stop being the malevolent, looming ghoul hovering over Arthur's shoulder and _go back to normal-_ back to being the friend Arthur knows -

...

...for _Vivi._ Because Arthur would be-

Would be-

The sound he makes is something like a wail, and he curls tighter around the too-thin man, clutching him as though he might disappear. " **Please. God, please. _Please believe me._ I'm not going to hurt you, not ever again, Arthur, _Artie_ -**"

He digs deep and _drags_ out the energy - it feels wrong, like sandpaper against smooth glass, but he _forces_ his form to shift, ignoring the ache. He can't get through to Arthur with his words, so he'll _show_ him.

Lewis gathers him up and pulls him into a kiss, filling it with all the tenderness and love and regret he can muster, cradling that shadowed face gently. He slides careful fingers into Arthur's hair, soothing and warm, caressing his cheeks with his thumbs. _I'm here_ , he tries to say. _Stay with me._

When he finally pulls back, Arthur's eyes flutter open and he stares at Lewis dreamily, a wistful smile on his lips. "Oh," he says softly. "You didn't have to do that..."

He feels a flicker of hope. " **Arthur,** " he says again, staring deeply into his eyes, _willing_ him to hear, " **I love you. Do you understand? I _love_ you**."

"Thank you," says Arthur, expression soft. "That's a nice goodbye."

The flicker of hope shatters like glass.

He wraps his arms around Arthur and lets himself fall apart. There's nothing he can do to convince him. There's nothing he can do to _fix this_. His words, his actions, they're all too _late_. He had his second chance and missed it, to wrapped up in his selfishness and his _cowardice_ , so far gone into self-pity that he didn't even see the man he loves falling to pieces in front of his own face.

...He's truly the monster Arthur sees.

It's strange, to cry without lungs. Easier, somehow, when he doesn't have to pull in breath. He can just cry endlessly, pour out a never-ending stream of ghostly tears that do nothing to ease the ache in his heart. He buries his face in Arthur's hair as his vision blurs.

"Your heart," Arthur says, reaching out and cautiously running a finger over it. "It's... breaking? Lew, you... you need to do it now, before it's... too late," he says urgently, but he still _trembles_ in Lewis' arms, still terrified despite his brave front and his dogged, mistaken determination to sacrifice himself, and Lewis can't _bear it_.

" **No,** " he sobs, " **n-no, I don't want this - I _hate_ this, I hate that you think I'm- I hate that I made you believe for even one _second_ that I'd ever do that to you-**"

Arthur's hand settles over his heart and he hums in concern.

" **-I hate that the first time you told me you loved me was in... in your _note_ -**" He shudders convulsively, remembering Arthur's neat, looping script, setting everything up so carefully for he and Vivi to be happy, as though covering up his own _murder_ was a mere stepping stone in Lewis and Vivi's life together - as if they could _ever_ recover from this -

"...Lewis? You've got to-"

He's in _agony_ , endless scenarios of horror and grief playing out inside his head, and he grips Arthur's shoulders and _shakes_ him. " **Nonono _no_ NO! I... I want you to _live!_** "

Arthur gasps - in shock or fear, Lewis has no idea, and he quickly wrenches his hands away, horrified with himself.

Arthur drops limply back onto the bed. "To... live?" he asks, completely baffled, and Lewis almost seizes him again - instead he flings himself backward, collapsing to his knees, clamping his hands over his ears tight enough to _hurt_. If he hears Arthur beg for his _own murder_ one more time, he swears he's going to snap his heart _himself_. Oh god, he deserves nothing less.

His hand creeps down to find it, pulling the sad grey thing away from his chest and holding it limply in his lap. _I did this. This is my fault. I did this. This is my fault. I-_

His grip tightens around it, the metal giving a sad, pitiful-sounding crack, and a moment later he _sobs_ in reaction, the pain piercing through him like fire. _I did this._ He clenches his fingers again and a vicelike pressure settles into his bones. He should crush the damn thing-

"STOP!"

The locket is yanked from his grip and a moment later the pressure releases; he sags to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

Arthur gapes, kneeling next to him with the heart clutched tightly to his chest. "What... what are you _doing?_ "

" **I won't,** " he says brokenly. " **I'd never. I'd rather disappear.** "

Arthur looks... confused, staring from the heart to Lewis, then back the heart. He runs a thumb along the crack, frowning in concentration, then looks at Lewis again. "You... really _don't_ want to?"

" **Arthur.** " He stares at the hospital ceiling, hollow and listless. All his words have been so useless, but there's nothing else left to try. " **You and Vivi are the only things keeping me 'normal'. If anything happened to you I think I'd go crazy. When... when you collapsed into my arms I _did_ go crazy. Uncle Lance had to yell at me because I wouldn't let the ambulance take you away. He said-**" he doesn't have lungs anymore but he chokes anyway, hiccuping a soft staticky noise, " **-he said if I didn't then you'd die and it would be _my fault._** "

Arthur's eyes are huge.

" **I don't know... I don't know if I'll ever be normal again. I wish I knew how all this works. I wish I'd talked to you about it. I'm sorry I didn't. Oh _god_ , I'm _so sorry_ \- I'm so sorry for _everything_ -**"

Arthur inches closer, reaching out a tentative hand, and an instant later Lewis snatches him up, burying his face into his shoulder. Where are all these tears even _going_? It's a wonder he hasn't flooded the hospital.

" **Oh, Arthur... If I killed you, I wouldn't go back to normal. I'd really turn into a monster.** "

Arthur's hand creeps around to settle gingerly on his back, the other pressing the locket tightly to his chest. "So... this... this is just how you are, now?"

He nods, gripping the back of Arthur's thin hospital gown, then abruptly shakes his head. " **No, oh god, no, I... I've been such an idiot - Arthur, I haven't been avoiding you because I'm a ghost - none of this is because I'm a ghost, it's because I'm a selfish coward who doesn't deserve a second chance! I don't deserve you. I don't deserve Vivi. I don't deserve- I'll do better, I promise, I _swear-_** "

The words flood out of him in a panic. He feels hazy and numb, but Arthur's a bright beat of gold in his arms and he can feel his heartbeat pressed against his own. It's not faded at all, pulsing strong and steady.

" **I should have talked to you weeks ago, I should have tried to explain, I just never knew what to say, and everything I'd thought was wrong - how could I ever have thought you'd push me?** "

A hand runs over his back, and he realises he's being rocked gently, Arthur swaying them side to side. "...I think we've both been idiots."

Does... does Arthur believe him? He leans back slightly, inspecting his face. Arthur gives him a wan smile, looking shattered but... _relieved_ , a dawning wonder in his eyes.

He's not trembling anymore, either, and that more than anything convinces Lewis that he might finally have gotten through to him - might, against all odds, have a third chance to fix things.

Arthur shuffles slightly. "Uh. Should we... get off the floor? Actually, can we just go home? Where are the staff, anyway?"

He chokes back a slightly hysterical laugh. " **The s-staff probably think I'm here to kill you. I... I might have terrified some of them when I was trying to find you.** "

\-----

In the end, Uncle Lance comes to save the day - he smoothes things over with the hospital staff after some very fast talking, and not long after they're all packed off home with a nervous but stern warning _not to come back_ unless it's a dire emergency. Through the whole ordeal, Lewis refuses to let go of Arthur even once.

They arrive home in the nick of time, Vivi and Mystery having returned just minutes before them, Vivi running out to the car clutching a _very familiar_ note and demanding answers _right now dammit_. 

Lance hands them into her care with a cursory explanation and his own dire warnings, and then the whole story comes out and Vivi very nearly kills them anyway.

It takes Lewis a long time to let go of Arthur. He sticks to him like a burr, terrified that he'll turn his back for a moment and find Arthur slumped on the floor - even after he'd ransacked the entire house and burned every bottle of medicine he could find, including Vivi's vitamins.

She'd had a few choice words to say about that, including 'poltergeist' and 'thief' - but she hadn't brought so much as a cough drop into the house since.

Ironically, of all of them Arthur is the most calm. He doesn't seem to mind his omnipresent guardian, and every day he shows more and more flashes of returning to his old self. They're learning to talk to each other, patching up the tatters of their relationship stitch by stitch. It's excruciating.

It's the _best thing Lewis has ever experienced._ Every time Arthur meets his eyes and gives him that small, surprised smile, he's grateful all over again. The first time Arthur comes to him with a problem, wanting to talk, he sobs all over the man.

In the end, after Arthur's brightened back into this normal self, and Lewis can stand to let go of him for more than a few hours at a time, they talk.

And when Lewis draws him into his arms, and kisses him, and finally tells him _everything_... Arthur believes him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehmm, I asked the people what they wanted and they said, quote: "DESTROY ME", so... I said I'd do my best??  
>   
> Also a special thanks to my angst co-pilot Rulos for being an excellent sounding board ~~and enabler~~.  
>   
> Oh, and... you can have your muse back now, Yepiamthesmileyface. If it bites me again I won't be responsible for my actions.


End file.
